Csontó Lajos - Verba Andrea szerk.: Csontó Lajos: Munkák (PMMI kiadványai - Kiállítási katalógusok 16. Pest Megyei Múzeumok Igazgatósága, Szentendre, 2005)

2002

EÜU ILLÚZIÓ RLDOZRTR LETTEL / BOUVE BEÍOCIE R VICTIFI OF Rtl ILLUSION lambda print, 1400x125 cm Kortárs Művészeti Intézel / Institute of Contemporary Art, Dunaújváros the recognition and financial position their work deserved, that they would be judged based on their performance. In this sense, young artists have been deceived by the small-scale, inbred Hungarian art scene itself. From their underestimated position it is understandable why are they stigmatized, why do they carry a stigma on their bodies - even if it is interpreted in a playful way. The movement, which reveals the intimate sphere of the body and brings out the exhibitionist character of the profession, the fact that the artist land the critic} lays himself on the line, the risk of self-revelation also signals that they are not ashamed to play this rote, and with the group photograph they demonstrate their togetherness and independence. As we have mentioned, skin appears in international works of art as a mediator between society and the individual, as a carrier of identity. Here, too, it manifests cultural identity, existence connected to art. The concept of art that appears in Csontó s work is quite democratic and sharply different from the rigid hierarchy of the Hungarian scene. There are no outstanding figures, prima donnas, award winners in the group he photographs; everyone carries a sign of the same importance, which only have meaning together. The meaning of the text also indicates the deconstruction of the heroic concept of art. The illusion to which both the participants of the art scene and the spectators have fallen victim to alludes to the shallow medium that provides narrow room for the portrayed generation, which creates the appearance that it has institutions of social importance and its own "stars ". The group portrayed by Csontó signals the departure from this social context, which, parallel to other goals of the generation, is articulated in independent initiatives that secede from state and political institutions, like the Szeged workshop they have established. Illusion may also have an even more general meaning, which alludes to the economic and political manipulation of contemporary Hungarian reality facing globalization, as a result of which each individual in society is the victim of one illusion - or more. Csontos work that reflects on Gábor Gerhes' picture is a welcome new phenomenon on the local scene. It is a characteristic trait of the international art scene that artists pay sensitive attention to each other's works and, more importantly, they react quickly to them. The continuous, often critical conversation, personal discourse during which the works interpret and reinforce each other is the body of art itself, which creates a real, lively intellectual medium for the individual works, situating them and making a general phenomenon of the Hungarian scene practically impossible: that some important works or exhibitions lack feedback. In case of Gerhes, we could see the contradictory combination of intimacy and rote play. In Csontó 's case friendship and the undertaking of the intellectual and human community is much more open. János Sturcz